Is it worth upgrading to Intel Core i7 on the MacBook Air 13"?

macrumors newbie

I'm going to purchase the new MacBook Air 13" tomorrow. I'm hoping that the Back to School promotion will start tomorrow. If it doesn't, I'm purchasing it anyways. I been waiting for it since WWDC 2013. Is it worth upgrading from 1.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 2.6GHz to 1.7GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz? I'm planning to do some light gaming on it. Also will the processor decrease my battery life? The upgrade is only $140 with the Student discount. What would you do?

macrumors member

1. In most cases no (especially if your heaviest intended usage is only light gaming which the HD5000 is quite capable of in the base i5).
2. Not for basic usage. Only if you plan on running multiple intensive programs concurrently.
3. Wouldn't recommend for most, but I did so clearly I'm not one to talk...

macrumors 603

Whichever you go for, i'd go with 8 Gig, since you'll never know.. Plus, its impossibly to upgrade the RAM on an Air, so save yourself the headache now, even if it is worth extra. You'll thanks yourself in the long run.

macrumors newbie

Because why you would be upgrading right after they dropped an absolute bomb that despite the Haswell battery life being 12 hours, they won't even be upgrading the screen to the Ultrabook standard for better units, or changing it all, so while you now can watch movies without losing power, you won't like the way they look..

I was getting one, now I am waiting on the Iphone and if it is average as they are alluding, then I am switching all the way around, but we will see if they really aren't doing much, leaving it at 4inches huge mistake, and doubling the current resolution makes it the 4th best screen if it were already out today.

I have never been so let down as the Air was starting as the top screen in teh entire Apple line last year, to this year not even going to HD 1920 x 1080, forget Retina display, and then this last week they even announced the Walmart iPad mini at 7.9 inches will be 2550x1440 and just under $400, so insult to injury there.

macrumors 6502a

Because why you would be upgrading right after they dropped an absolute bomb that despite the Haswell battery life being 12 hours, they won't even be upgrading the screen to the Ultrabook standard for better units, or changing it all, so while you now can watch movies without losing power, you won't like the way they look..

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If they put a Retina display on the Air, we wouldn't get the 12 hour battery life with Haswell.

If they did put a Retina display on the MBA then people would be whining why we aren't getting better battery life when the Haswell processor is supposed to be better for battery life.

macrumors 6502

Because why you would be upgrading right after they dropped an absolute bomb that despite the Haswell battery life being 12 hours, they won't even be upgrading the screen to the Ultrabook standard for better units, or changing it all, so while you now can watch movies without losing power, you won't like the way they look..

Click to expand...

Maybe because the screen is not the be all end all for MacBook Air users. I think the screen is fine, especially since I hook it up to a display at home. I value this computer for the improved graphics, battery life, and SSD performance over the 2011 model. Keeping the same screen was not an "absolute bomb" to me that would dissuade me from upgrading.

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